iier dc
ibcd,iilt
i]] the American continent and results of its labors, tl ■ortliy of the high commc itli wliich it has Iiphu t'i\ in its lionoralili' i . .-i- i. .-
W .
ttely •om- and
a, to to vai-iMiis irih.'s ofln-
I'.olli in the character,
institiiiion lias proved latioii and liberal sup-
111, and it bids fair to II.' the leading Amer-
I'lit day.
-,„vV?v.— The Method- \as itself the oftsnriiig
Wrs-
^- M,'},u,l,st hpi^rojuil M ,,,.,
ist Kiiiscojial Cliuicli in Auirina v ofthc missionary zeal of English .\Ic
ed to New Yo'rl< inid Philadelphia in ITCy." Wilh'in half a century from this i)eriod the work had spread over the whole continent, reaching even to California and Oregon, and in IslI* the missionary society was provisionally or- ganized in New Vorlv, and was formally adopted as an authoii/eil iii-tituiiiiii of the Church by the General Cou- feiriire the I'olhiw i 11 l' vcar. It has for its object the spread of the ( iospel at home and abroad, among all ranks and classes of men. '1 he bishoj) in charge of the foreign mis- sions appoints the agents io their respective spheres of labor, and places a su|)eriutendent over each station. The pecuniary interests of the society are managed by a board, which is constituted in the usual wav. and which meets at stated jieriods for the transaction o'f husincss. Its lirst tield of lahir, after arrangements liad been niach! to sup- ply tlio siiiritiial wants of German and other JOuropeaii immigi-anls, was amoui,' the Nortli .\mericaii Indians. In is:!-.' the Kev. Melville B. Cox was appointed as the lirst Methodisi missionary to Liberia, in Western Africa. Be- fore he hatl been "six nionths in the country, how- ever, he liad been cut down by malignant fever, and the ijeople were left as sheep having no shepherd. Other zealous laborers followed, and a good work has ever since been carried on in tlie small republic of Li- beria by this society, chiefly through tlie agency of col- ored missionaries, who are found "by experience to be best adapted to the climate. The work in Western Africa has since been organized into a separate Confeience, over which a bishop has been ordained of Alriian de- scent, and himself the fruit of missionary labor. In 1--4T a mission was commenced in China, and soon al'ierwanls in India, to the great advantage of \:;s; numheis of the dark, beiiiL-hted lieathens of thes ■ deusely-pnpiilaled le- gions. Xor has the continent of lOiirope lieeu iie:,'le(ie(l by the Missionary Society of the .Metliodist Episcopal Church of America. By a remarkable providence, some of the (k'rman immigrants converted lu America were made th(! means of conveying the blessings of the Gospel back to their native land, where a blessed work was com- menced through tlieir instrumentality, wliich soon ex- tended from (iermany to Sweden, Norway, Scandinavia. and other countries in the North of Europe. By their genuine missionary spirit the Methodists of America prove themselves worthy of their noble and honored an- cestry.
" J'rotei^tant Ejiixcopnl Doard of Jfissionx.— The Mission- ary Society of the Protestant Kpisc United States of .Vmerica was oi-aii Convention of 1S2(I, with the seat of. delphia. In ia% an entire chan-c « Btitation of the society, when Mh lii adopted by general consent. The lir tered ujioii l\v the missionariis ,,i- Greece, the Bevs. J. J. Koberlson am Bingham, a printer, being sent out t I'^oM. 'I'hey lirst settled at Teiios, li moved to Atliens, wliere they were vei educalion.-il l.iliors. 'i'heir princiiial ol (dylize, but to revive and reronii the (iiceU Churcb, and Iheir labors were not without friiil. Sialions were also forin.'d in Svria and Crele, but aflerwanls abamlone,!. In ISiit; the lioard exlemled iheir lalxH- lo We-tcrn .\IVica, by tlie commeiicemeni of a slali.ai at Cape I 'almas, among a dense populalion speakinLf llic (.le'.io lan-iia-c. The first missionaries weie the liev. Messrs. P.iiue, Minor, and Savage, llie last of whom was a rnedictil man, and his skil- ful services were highly valuable in a country noted for its iusiilubrioiis climate'. Considerable success was real-
.pal CI /ed bv
un
h of the (Jeneral
petal i.
lis
n Phila-
IS mad
■ in
thc con-
l'' see lie
of 'labor 'ei'i-
his ins
ion w;is
.J.W. Hill.
and Mr.
wards
hc
close of
11 subs
eiiii
eiitlv re-
y siirce
sfu
ill "their
cci was
no
to pros-
ized in this part of the mission field, several converted natives beiu" gathered into Church fellowship. Christian schools established, and a small newspaper published in Ln. ;>h Ml I .icl)o, called the Caialla Mesxemjer. In isa4 ini- ic sent to Bavaria and China'by this soci-
et : I'll years afterwards Dr. Boone was conse-
ei ;; ; t i i iiy ijiishop, and went out with a large staff of laborers Io siiaiiglnii. Nor were the heathen nearer home negleited by this institution. Mission stations were commeneed among various trilies of North American In- dians: ;iii(l, iioiwiihsttinding numerous difficulties which hail to he ciicotintered, arising from the wanderinir habits of tin- pc.plc and other causes, 3(ifl native children were soon icpuited as being under Christian instruction. In IsoT bishop Kemper consecrated a new church at Dutch Creek, and apiiointed Solomon Davis, a converted native, as pastor over it, whose ministry was made a blessing to many of his fellow-countrymen.